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| Chief mediator Kofi Annan on Jan. 22. Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images/Newscom |
For Kenya, a month of attacks, then quick progress
In January, one of Africa's most stable democracies was ripping itself apart. How was it saved? Part 2 of four.
By Scott Baldauf | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitorfrom the August 6, 2008 edition
Page 1 of 2
Africa's elders seize a leading role
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A month of attacks, then quick progress
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Kofi Annan discusses transparency and the public face of diplomacy.
Two protagonists and the conciliators
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After two months of discord, finally a handshake
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Key elements of Kenya's peace deal
Why the Kenya talks succeeded
Timeline: Kenya's post-election path
Key players in Kenya's peace deal
Seeds of peace sown in Rift
Valley
Nairobi, Kenya - In the first few days following the Dec. 27 election, many Kenyans didn't realize – or didn't accept – that they had a problem. Horrific ethnic violence – Kalenjins and Luos attacking Kikuyus – flared in the Rift Valley and western Nyanza provinces. But many African academics, aid workers, and politicians in Nairobi predicted that the "disturbances" would last for just a few days, like a teakettle letting off steam.
Ensconced in the State House – the official presidential residence – President Mwai Kibaki continued to insist that the Dec. 27 elections were legitimate and he'd been reelected. International observers called the elections "flawed." The opposition, holed up in their own headquarters (ominously dubbed "the Pentagon"), continued to cry foul, and to urge for peaceful mass action. As each side claimed victory, the country burned.
"I don't know whether this was a fight over principles. This was a fight over power," recalls Martha Karua, a hard-liner in Mr. Kibaki's cabinet. "The election commission clearly declared Kibaki to be the winner, and the loser refused to accept the result, and refused to accept the internationally accepted method for resolving the dispute: going to court."
In the initial aftermath of the elections, no one was talking to former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan. His role as chief mediator was the result of three weeks of concerted, behind-the-scenes effort by Kenyan diplomats, businessmen, and civil activists, as well as substantial pressure from the international community.
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In his room at the Serena Hotel, a few days after the Dec. 27 elections, former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa is packing his bags to leave. He has spent the past two weeks in Kenya as head of the Commonwealth Group election monitoring mission. The group has reported persistent vote irregularities, casting doubt on the election results. But his work as an electoral observer is done. Mr. Mkapa, with some sadness, is heading home.
Then, there's a knock on his hotel door. It's Lazaro Sumbeiywo, a retired Kenyan general, and Ambassador Bethuel Kiplagat, a Kenyan career diplomat, both of whom helped mediate an end to Sudan's 20-year civil war.
"You are not leaving," General Sumbeiywo tells Mkapa. "Now that we have got this problem, you will not leave. You have to get in touch with our leaders" to agree to international mediation.
"We held him hostage in this hotel," Sumbeiywo recalls, with a chuckle. He had no doubt that Kenya needed international intervention to resolve the political impasse. It would start with Mkapa. "What mattered to us was that we wanted to stop the mayhem and we wanted people to talk," he says.
Mkapa agrees to stay. That decision would prove to be a crucial first step to bringing in Annan, and the ultimate peace deal.
Using his credentials both as a former African president and as an election observer, Mkapa starts making phone calls to the diplomatic corps in Nairobi, and briefs John Kufuor, the African Union chairman and president of Ghana.
After the first week, it becomes clearer that the violence will not just peter out on its own. International pressure mounts in earnest. Secretary of Sate Condoleezza Rice and David Miliband, the British foreign secretary, issue a joint statement appealing for an end to the violence. A parade of African leaders, including Desmond Tutu and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, arrive to urge dialogue. President Kufuor arrives, too. Although the press calls his trip a failure, Mr. Kufuor manages on Jan. 10 to persuade both parties to start political dialogue with the help of a "Panel of Eminent African Personalities" appointed by the African Union.
The panel will be chaired by Annan. He will be joined by the "hotel hostage," Tanzanian President Mkapa, and former South African first lady Graça Machel.
But on the same day, President Kibaki swears in his cabinet. He's reminding everyone that if he negotiates with the opposition, he will do so from a position of strength.
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